Lincolnshire hospitals trust chair to step down after 18 months

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust chair Dean Fathers has announced that he will be stepping down at the end of October after just over 18 months in the position.

In an email to trust members seen by The Lincolnite, the outgoing chair said that he would be unable to put in the necessary time to continue in the role due to “new commercial and academic roles”.

He said he will leave the trust with a full, permanent executive team in place who are all experienced and determined to help turnaround ULHT’s services ensuring they are safe and sustainable in the future.

The trust will now begin the process of finding a replacement.

In the job advert the trust states that it is looking for someone with expertise to help transform ULHT and make a positive difference to the community.

The advert reads: “United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT) is one of the largest acute trusts in the country, delivering a comprehensive range of services from its hospital sites across the county.

“ULHT provides the majority of its services from three hospitals in Lincolnshire, each an average of one hours travel distance between them.

“The organisation also provides a wide variety of outpatient, day case and inpatient services from a range of other community hospitals operated by Lincolnshire Community Health Services or local GP clusters.

“ULHT has an income of around £440m, provides a comprehensive range of over 100 medical, surgical, paediatric, obstetric and gynaecological services delivered by over 7,500 staff.

“In an average year the trust sees 600,000 outpatients, 140,000 inpatients and day cases and almost 150,000 people attend accident and emergency.

“We value and promote diversity and are committed to equality of opportunity for all and appointments made on merit.

“We believe that the best boards are those that reflect the communities they serve.

“We particularly welcome applications from women, people from the local black and minority ethnic communities, and disabled people who we know are under-represented in chair and non-executive roles.”

Applications for the role should be completed by September 21 at noon at the latest and forwarded to [email protected]

Interviews with shortlisted candidates will take place on the week beginning October 9.

The start date for the position will be November 1.

The salary is not disclosed in the job advert.

However, Dean Fathers received remuneration of £40,000 per year as reported in March 2016, when he took up the post.

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